A New Mexico House committee approved a comprehensive marijuana legalization bill on Monday.
Rep. Javier Martinez (D) legislation is one of several legalization proposals that were presented at the 2021 session. Another reform project sponsored by Rep. Tara Lujan (D) was also considered by the Health and Human Services Committee on Monday but it was rejected.
The panel issued an approval recommendation for the Martinez project in a 7 to 4 vote, taking it to additional committees before it could be voted on in plenary. Lujan’s legislation was presented in 7 to 4 votes.
According to the approved measure, adults 21 years of age or older would be allowed to own “at least” two ounces of cannabis and grow to six mature and six immature plants for personal use. It would also create a system of regulated and taxed cannabis sales.
The legislation is favored by advocates of reform because, unlike the other measures in the House and Senate, it would specifically use tax revenue from marijuana sales to support reinvestments in the communities most affected by the drug war. It also stands out for including provisions to automatically eliminate previous marijuana convictions.
Martinez’s proposal would require market rules to be implemented by January 2022. Existing medical marijuana dispensaries, meanwhile, would be allowed to launch sales for adult consumption starting in October.
The committee held a hearing on the two House bills on Saturday, but the meeting was long and members did not vote to promote it. They adopted a replacement version of Martinez’s proposal during the initial meeting, however.
A clause that requires people to prove that the marijuana they own was purchased from a legal source has been excluded. Members also rejected a provision that limits sales of paraphernalia to licensed dispensaries.
In addition, the bill approved by the revised committee would also ensure that tribal governments can participate in the new industry. It would also allow small companies that obtain so-called micro-business licenses to start operating before larger companies, in order to give them an advantage.
NOW: HB 12 – The Cannabis Regulatory Law gets approval from the Chamber’s Health and Human Services Committee. #nmleg #nmpol pic.twitter.com/10Brm3xZbr
– NM House Democrats (@NMHouseDems) February 15, 2021
During Monday’s meeting, lawmakers discussed additional amendments, but there was an agreement that they would be better dealt with later, in separate committees or in plenary.
The House’s legalization bill that the committee passed is more restricted compared to Martinez’s legislation. This would create a system of regulated and commercial cannabis sales and impose a 20% sales tax on marijuana products, the proceeds of which would be used to finance state and local governments.
Lujan’s bill does not present the measures of exclusion and social equity that HB 12 has and would only decriminalize domestic cultivation. Growing three plants would entail a $ 500 fine, and anything else would remain a crime. The proposal would limit the number of commercial production licenses that could be issued, which is another difference from Martinez’s bill, which would prevent the state from establishing such restrictions.
The language of Lujan’s project is identical to the separate legislation sponsored by Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto (D) that was introduced earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Senator Cliff Pirtle (R), who introduced a legalization bill in 2019 that would establish a state market, also recently presented a reform proposal that would create a private commercial industry. This would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and carry up to 60 grams of marijuana.
A third proposal for legalization in the Senate, sponsored by Senator Jacob Candelaria (D), is similar to Martinez’s bill. All three were referred to the Senate’s Tax, Business and Transportation Committee, but hearings have not yet been scheduled.
Martinez’s project goes to the Chamber’s Taxation and Revenue Committee, which he chairs.
# HB12 is up and running! Join us as we work towards a marijuana legalization framework that is smart, compassionate and fair. #nmleg # @ARomero_NM @DPANewMexico @NMHouseDems https://t.co/hpreoUGg9X
– Rep. Javier Martínez (@JavierForNM) February 14, 2021
In turn, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) spoke repeatedly about the need to legalize as a means of boosting the economy, especially in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. She said during a speech to the State of the State this month that “a crisis like the one we experienced last year can be seen as a loss or as an invitation to rethink the status quo – to be ambitious, creative and bold”.
The governor also included cannabis legalization as part of his 2021 legislative agenda, which she released last month and said in a recent interview that “she is still very optimistic about cannabis” in this session.
This optimism is reinforced by the fact that several anti-legalization Democrats, including the provisional president of the Senate and the chairman of the Finance Committee, were expelled by progressive primary candidates last year.
Additional pressure to end the cannabis ban this year comes from neighboring Arizona, where voters passed legalization in November and where sales were officially launched last week.
New Mexico shares another border with Colorado, one of the first states to legalize for adult use. Cannabis must also be legalized on Mexico’s southern border, with lawmakers facing a Supreme Court order to end the ban by April.
Last year, a bill to legalize cannabis for adult use was approved by a New Mexico Senate committee, but was rejected in another before the end of the 30-day session.
Earlier, in 2019, the House passed a legalization bill that included provisions to place marijuana sales primarily in state stores, but died in the Senate. Later that year, Lujan Grisham created a working group to study cannabis legalization and issue recommendations.
Polls indicate that voters are ready for policy change. A survey released in October found that a large majority of New Mexico residents are in favor of legalization with social equality provisions in place and about half support the decriminalization of drug possession more widely.
Last May, the governor signaled that she was considering actively campaigning against lawmakers who blocked her legalization project in 2020. She also said she is open to allowing voters to decide on policy change through an electoral referendum if the legislators are unable to send a legalization bill to their table.
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Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.
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